I went out Friday to start laying deck boards. It went pretty quickly, but I ended up spending half the day cutting and installing blocking between the joists to have an angular transition from the front deck to the side deck (and dealing with multiple rain delays). Today was a total bust due to heavy rain this morning making for a sloppy mess I didn't want to work in. The best part is I now have a flat, level space to work which will make life a lot easier and safer.




I'll add crossbracing between the joists in that open space that lines up with the joists from the side deck when it gets built. I'll be back out in July to build the side deck and continue excavating the ground on the back of the building to slope it away from the foundation and give me enough vertical space for the deck foundation beams.

Back out this weekend. I have a useful tip if you don't want to spend a 200% premium for pre-cut stringers - Grab a 2x12 at Home Depot, then go grab the size stringer you need. Stencil the stringer onto the 2x12, then cut it yourself. BOOM! you get three stringers for the price of one.




My ambitious list of things to do this weekend include installing corner trim on the cabin, installing stairs on the front deck, building the foundation for the side deck, painting the exterior front and barn doors, and finishing the plumbing. I will not get all of those things done.

OMG, it sucked out there today. By dinner time I had a nice case of heat exhaustion, but the pool helped.

I got relatively little done today and not so many pics. I finished installing the steps on the side of the deck and did some painting. I painted the grooves in the siding and finished the first coat so it doesn't look like I gave up. Having a large, flat, safe, surface to work on made it much easier. I also painted the inside of the barn doors to look like the outside. I need to touch up the edges of the red paint because tape and aggressive texture do not play well together.

Spent Sunday and Monday at at the cabin. Both days ended up being 105 in the shade so I had to fight the heat exhaustion to make some forward progress. First, I finished all the water plumbing except for the quarter-turn valves for the sink. I still have to finish the drain line. No pics of the plumbing, but I did plan to get the side deck framed up and ended up completing it because I really wanted a win from such a brutal weather experience, although I still have to trim the edge.

The next big challenge is prepping the site for the rear deck. I need to slope the ground away from the building to reduce or eliminate sheet flow under the building and provide enough space for the deck foundation at the west end of the building. It's going to be a LOT of earth work in hot weather.

This pic is a little deceptive from the angle, but at a distance of 7 feet from the wall of the cabin, the ground is about 8 inches higher than it is at the wall. I've been out there a couple times right after it rained and the ground was still moist and used a tiller to break up the soil, but doing that all by hand with a tiller, shovel, and wheelbarrow is back-breaking work. Ultimately it's probably just under two yards of soil, but it's filled with rocks and yaupon roots. I also have to make a final decision about the ashe juniper staying or going. It provides decent shade, but would require changes to the deck foundation design.

You're obviously good at what you're doing and feel like it'll never end, but embrace the process. As much as you'll enjoy the final result I bet there's a part of you that will miss the build.

That before/after shot tells the story.

For a hot second, I thought those orange and blue buckets were being used as a pier for the deck…

Luckass96 said:

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I am just amazed at how much you have done on an old storage shed. I agree I think when you are done you will keep adding more projects and adding things, but hope you take a break and enjoy your hard work.
On your grading for the back of cabin I would rent a dingo with bucket and trencher for the weekend. Use the trencher to loosen the dirt then move and level with bucket will be well worth the rental fee.

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We're going to rent some equipment to do work on various areas of the landsite and I plan to go in on it to have some work done next to the cabin where the parking area is intended to be, but to really do it the right way we need equipment with a six-way blade and those get really expensive. I'm already $17K into this thing, so I'm pinching pennies wherever I can.